


Illusions

by Digitalwave



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-18
Updated: 2012-07-18
Packaged: 2017-11-10 05:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/462767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Digitalwave/pseuds/Digitalwave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phantom pain came in many different flavors...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Illusions

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The characters in this story remain the property of themselves and their related production companies. None of the pretties belong to me, I'm only borrowing them.

Charles remembered running. Cold air rushing past him, lips chapped, cheeks ruddy in the early morning air. His ears could still hear the crunch of gravel against his sneakered feet, small pebbles treacherous at times as they shifted underneath.

He remembered the feel of it, all through his body, the thud of each footstep, the burn of the air as he pulled it into his lungs. He remembered the peace it brought, the quiet. The cacophony of voices always echoing in his mind stilled for a time.

Most of all, he remembered Eric. His warm, steady presence as he kept pace at his side balanced Charles in a way he’d never felt, before or after. The day he’d donned that damned helmet left a wound that never healed, no matter how many years had passed.

Charles sighed, dragging himself into his wheelchair, frowned as he tugged his long useless legs into alignment. The cold plastic against the parts of his skin that could still feel shocked Charles awake each morning faster than his alarm ever did these days.

Rolling himself over to the window he pulled aside the heavy drapes, eyes searching the fog shrouded yard outside. The track lay silent, no one else up this early it seemed.

Sighing, he turned from the window, left the feelings and the memories behind once more. He had a school to run and children counting on him. And, God help him, an old friend to face down once again in possible battle this day. Charles closed his eyes, heard the ghosts of two young men laughing as they ran past. Yes, Charles remembered running.


End file.
